


Radiation Family

by ladyluck_number_6



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Wynonna deals with some memory issues, happens post game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27859766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyluck_number_6/pseuds/ladyluck_number_6
Summary: Some days are better than others for the courier’s memory, and today was one of the hardest days she’d had in a while. Errands took far longer than they should have, she had to turn around four times because she had forgotten which way to go, and she had to return to two vendors because she left her purchases there. In a scary moment, she forgot what Arcade looked like, and had to sit down in the shade of a crumbling building and calm herself down. Eventually, his face became clear once more and she was able to continue on. The locket around her neck serves as a bitter reminder of her life before and seems to taunt her by its refusal to open. On her walk back through Freeside she becomes fixated on the term nuclear family and finds the name ironic. Drained and weary she rejoins her companions, and they surprise her with a gift. At the end of the night, all the companions are in the living room, doing their own things in the shared space Wynonna is hit with an overwhelming sense of belonging, she returns to the term nuclear family, and jokingly thinks of the term radiation family to describe the type of family she is now apart of.
Relationships: Craig Boone & Female Courier, Female Courier & Arcade Gannon, Female Courier & Raul Tejada, Female Courier & Veronica Santangelo, Lily Bowen & Female Courier, Rose of Sharon Cassidy & Female Courier
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Radiation Family

**Author's Note:**

> This is I think my longest piece to date! this is for the fallout bang organized by @chaosintheavenue on tumblr and a big thanks to @Nukaworld-Nora for helping with edits!!!

Wynonna felt herself stiffen as an unfamiliar face passed her’s in the halls of the Lucky 38. Panic momentarily gripped her heart and she forced herself to breathe; her fight instinct kicked in and she turned on her heels clenching her fist and prepared to turn down the hallway where the intruder passed- 

Oh, right, there was no hallway; it was just a full-length mirror. The unfamiliar face remained though, a swath of angry red scar tissue stretch across their scalp. Their body was long and gangly and their unkempt hair falling well past their shoulders. Wynonna registered that was her...but it didn’t feel right. Slowly looking from her feet up she tried to familiarize herself with the body she had for years. She looked too...something, too old, too beat up, too tired. Every bruise and cut stood out starkly on her skin. Green eyes met themselves in the mirror, the only things that looked somewhat right. Slowly she turned from the mirror and rubbed her face before smoothing down her hair. Her mind was running a million miles a minute with all her errands crashing into each other. Today was going to be a long day. 

Four times. She had to turn around four times. She’d walked these roads a million times over why the hell did she get confused  _ four times _ . Tears welled in her eyes as she checked her Pip-Boy again. She was going too far west. With a huff, she wiped her eyes and carefully repositioned herself. She was going to Primm, she knew the way last week why didn’t she now? She should have taken someone with her, at least Rex or ED-E. But she didn’t want to wake anyone, and she’d been doing so well. Glaring down at her pip-boy screen she stomped her way to Primm. 

The sun was high when she returned from the Gun Runners, she was halfway across Freeside when she realized she left her ammo and new weapon there. She had done the same thing at Mick and Raphl’s, the two ribbing her lightly upon her return holding her purchase aloft. She did her best to laugh along and push her feelings of frustration down in her chest. 

_ “Okay, now for Arcades barrel fruit” _

Arcade...he had glasses right? Wynonna furrowed her brow. 

_ “Of course he has glasses...and blonde-no, brown hair?”  _

Wynonna stopped dead in her tracks. She definitely knew he had blue eyes though or was that Cass? She tugged on the end of her braid as she felt the panic swell in her chest. Arcade’s hair color darkened from blond to brown and back again, one eye was green and the other blue. She was unsure which one was right. She squeezed her eyes shut and tugged on her braid harder, she needed to sit down. Stumbling off the road she found shelter in the shade of a crumbling brick wall. She took a shuddering breath and tried to focus, but it was hard as her mind kept changing the doctor’s appearance, blurring and distorting his facial features. She took another deep breath, forcing herself to hold it for a beat before letting it out slowly. After a few minutes her racing heart began to slow down, Arcade’s hair color stopped changing, finally settling to a light blond. With a few more deep breaths she was able to picture him perfectly once more. Wynonna unclenched her fists, crescent moon shaped indents were left in her palms by her nails. She tried to wipe them away on her pants as she stood up, legs still shaky from panic. 

_ “Okay, barrel fruit time.”  _

The sun was setting over Freeside when she trudged back through the gates exhausted, her pack weighed heavily on her shoulders and every bone ached. Her thoughts were like radio static, one getting interrupted with another and filled her skull with an uncomfortable buzz. Concentrating she tried to catch a coherent train of thought, that would help calm it down. She jumped on a phrase that she read earlier and was playing on a loop. 

_ “Nuclear family...what a weird term” _

She knew it meant mom, dad, and however many kids, but thinking about it always conjured the picture of a family on the verge of disaster, one fight away from everything falling apart; what is nuclear other than destruction? After all, look at what happened when the whole world went nuclear. Out of habit she reached up and tugged at her locket, digging the chain with a pinch into her neck. It seemed to weigh heavy, a bitter reminder of a life she didn’t remember stung even worse today than normal. What was the picture in it, her own nuclear family? She shook her head to dispel the thought, no use working herself up again, she was almost back. Feeling like she was moving through molasses Wynonna trudged her way past the securitrons, through the gate, and up the steps of the Lucky 38.

Rex must have been waiting by the elevator doors because as soon as they slid open he bounded in and crashed against Wynonna’s knees. 

“Hey boy,” she mustered a small smile and scratched behind the mutt’s ears, his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth and grinned. 

“Winnie dear, is that you?” Lily called from the kitchen. 

“Yeah,” she called back wearily. She walked further into the Lucky 38 and slung her bag off her shoulders, Rex trotted after her.

“Did you get the Brahmin steaks?”

“Right here,” she pulled the meat out and placed it on the counter. 

“Thank you, dear.” Wynonna nodded, Lily leaned in and frowned. “You look exhausted, go and rest. Grandma will take care of dinner.” With that she was ushered gently out of the kitchen and down the hall, she heard a thump from the living room, followed by a cheer and groan. Rounding the corner she saw Boone flat on his back and Veronica standing triumphantly above him, obviously pleased with herself for winning the round of sparring. 

“Hi Wyn!” she greeted upon noticing the courier’s appearance “Wanna tap in for Boone over here?” 

“Nah.” Wynonna rolled her head and tried to work out the kink in her neck. “Not feeling up to it”

“Something up?” Veronica asked, her brow furrowing as she helped pull Boone up. Wynonna heave a sigh and tried not to let her eyes well up, no use worrying them.

“Just a hot one today.” She smiled thinly. Veronica nodded, not looking totally convinced.

“Uh-huh.” she nodded crossing her arms. 

“Where’s Arcade? I have his barrel fruit” Wynonna continued holding up the case of flora, halting the other women’s chance to question further. 

“Cocktail lounge.” Boone gestured with his chin “Try to convince him to join us for dinner. I don’t think he’s eaten all day.”

“Aye aye,” Wynonna nodded. She greeted Cass and Raul on her way up to the lounge, which had been converted into a library of sorts. Arcade was seated at the bar where deconstructed stimpacks and medical notebooks surrounded him. 

“Here ya go,” Wynonna placed the box on the bar “How’s it going?”

“Ah thank you, and well as it can,” Arcade replied toying with an empty vial “just a few more trails should do”

“That’s good. Oh, and you’re eating dinner on time with us today, Boone said you haven’t eaten all day.” Arcade rubbed the back of his neck and nodded,

“Alright...you okay Wynonna?” 

“Hm? Oh yeah,” Wynonna rubbed her eyes so hard black spots appeared “just tired.” 

“And…” the doctor pried. 

“...Memory,” she groaned, burying her face in her hands. 

“Wynonna.” Arcade sighed rubbing his brow.

“I know! I know, just, I was doing so well.” She kept her face hidden, hot shame welled in her throat. 

“How bad was it?” Wynonna recounted her day, her hands migrating to fiddle with the locket.

“You can ask us for help you know. Memory loss is a finicky thing, some days are harder than others.” She glanced up at him, meeting his sympathetic gaze. 

“I know, and I will next time, I promise” 

“Good” Arcade nodded “now go rest before dinner.” Wynonna trudged her way to her room. 

Dinner passed with very little fanfare, it was mostly her sitting and listening to the conversations between her companions, interjecting with a small comment every so often. Lily had done a good job with the brahmin steaks, and the baked apple went with it surprisingly well. Veronica and Cass cracked a few jokes that make her smile, and even Boone managed to make a joke, albeit a terrible one, but she was proud of him nonetheless. Rex even jumped in Arcade’s lap and snatched a piece of the steak from his plate, resulting in gleeful shouts and an exclamation of frustration. Eating made her feel better, and the static in her skull had quieted down a bit. Once everyone was finished she helped Raul gather everyone’s dishes and it was her turn to wash them. Everyone else gathered in the living room to either do their own tasks or take some time to wind down. She could hear their muffled voices, and she caught her name come up a few times. No doubt Arcade was filling them in on what happened. She prepared herself for the lectures she would no doubt be getting. 

“Wynonna!” 

“Huh?” 

“Get in here!”

Wynonna sighed and dried her hands, in the living room all her companions were huddled around the table, Cass covering something with both her hands. 

“What’s up?” 

“Well, we found this old necklace and decided to clean it up, figured it go with the others you wear all the time.” Veronica beamed as Cass tossed her the box, which was then handed to the courier. Wynonna opened the box carefully, on a thin silver chain was an atomic starburst shaped pendent with nine points the size of a penny, in the middle of it was a small green stone. 

“Holy crow,” Wynonna gasped “thank you…” she felt warmth swell in her chest as she gently took it out of the box and looped the chain around her neck.

“Ah, don’t mention it.” Cass waved her hand with a smile.

“It was a pain to fix the clasp though,” Raul piped up, Veronica elbowed him playfully. Wynonna rubbed the necklace between her fingers and grinned. 

“I love you guys.” She smiled. 

“We love you too dearie.” Lily reached out and placed her hand on her shoulder. 

ED-E hovered playing radio New Vegas. it was a re-run story of the event of GoodSprings. Veronica listened intently to a story Cass was telling as she held Lily’s yarn. Boone was sitting on the floor giving Rex belly rubs, Arcade had brought his work down and took up half the table with his books and note, Raul occupied the other half with work on Veronica’s power fist. Wynonna’s duster laid in her lap, another patch of mismatched fabric was added to mend a bullet hole. Slowly she looked at each companion, warmth growing in her chest and she was hit with an overwhelming sense of belonging, silencing all of the static in her skull. She reached up and rubbed the charm on her new necklace.

_ “Nuclear family is such an outdated term, we need a new term to describe new types of families,”  _ Wynonna thought as she threaded her needle again  _ “...radiation family. Heh, that’s pretty good, a radiation family.”  _ Grinning, she began to stitch a set of nine initials into the patch, under the completed initials was her newly coined term, Radiation Family. 


End file.
